Electronic message systems provide virtual forums for users to share ideas and to discuss various topics. Electronic message systems include message board systems, social networking sites, blogs, micro-blogs, collaborative content systems, such as wikis, and other such electronic forums where users contribute create, share, and access content.
Managing who has access to what content can present a daunting challenge to administrators of electronic message systems. For example, in a collaborative content development environment, such as a wiki, the ability to create new content and to edit existing content may be limited. For example, changes to existing content or creation of new content may need to be approved by a moderator.
Blogs are one type of electronic messaging system where an individual, group of individuals, or corporation may post content to a website. Often the content provides commentary on a particular topic of interest and may include text and/or audiovisual components. Readers may be able to post comments regarding blog content. Access restrictions may be placed on blog content to limit who may read and/or post comments to the blog. Micro-blogs are particular type of blog that comprises brief text or audiovisual posts. Micro-blogs often impose strict limits on the size of posts. Access to micro-blog content may be restricted to a groups of invited members or in some instances may be open to be received by anyone who chooses to opt in to receive the micro-blog content. Unlike a traditional blog, which is typically posted to a website, micro-blog content may be disseminated through other channels, such as text messages to a mobile phone or other mobile device.
Social networking services provide users with the ability to construct online communities of people who share common interests. Social networking services may incorporate aspects of other electronic messaging systems, such as blogs and electronic message boards, and may provide additional ways for users to interact, such as email or instant messaging services. Various restrictions may be imposed on who may post content and who may view content posted by other users.
Electronic message boards provide another forum for sharing ideas and discussing various topics. Content in electronic message board systems is often arranged into threads that correspond to a particular topic. Users may submit content in the form of posts to be displayed as part of a thread. In some message board systems, the ability to create new threads is limited to administrators, while in other messages board systems, some or all users may have the ability to create new discussion threads. A message board system may be divided into various “boards” devoted to a finite set of subject matter, such as a movie message board where users may discuss topics related to movies, such as recent movie releases, favorite actors and actresses, or movie directors. Each board may be organized into a number of separate discussions or “threads” that are typically dedicated to a specific topic related to the subject matter of the message board. Each thread may include a number of “posts” or messages that users have posted to the message board. Users may view the posts that other users have added to the message board, reply to other users' posts, post a new message to a thread, or even create a new thread. Some messages boards control access to the message board content by requiring a user to log on to the messages boards system before the user can post messages to a thread or create a new thread. Once a user has been logged in or authenticated by the message board system, the user can post messages to any message board in the system.
Managing user access to the message boards presents a number of challenges to administrators. If any user is able to access all content and to post to all threads, the open nature of the message board may lead to abuse. For example, some users (referred to as “trolls”) may intentionally post inflammatory messages on a message board in order to provoke an emotional response from other users and to disrupt the discussions taking place on the message board. Trolls and others posting abusive or inflammatory content may easily ruin the experience for other users and may sufficiently disrupt discussions to the point that other users lose interest in the message boards. To make matters worse, organized groups of trolls sometimes target certain message boards and cooperatively disrupt the discussions taking place on these message boards.
Some message boards restrict the ability of users to access and/or post new content, but if user access to a message board is too restrictive, discussions may be stifled because users cannot easily contribute to the discussions and users may lose interest. Some message board systems use moderators to monitor discussions on message boards. In some message boards systems, a moderator may review all messages submitted by users before the messages are actually posted to the message board. In other message board systems, the moderator may have the power to delete messages that have been posted by users and to block disruptive users. However, in some situations, the sheer volume of content that may be posted to some message board systems precludes the use of moderators to monitor all content that is posted to the message boards.